Ch 2 Flashcards
Campbell Collaboration
An international organization that conducts meta-analyses in order to discover what works in criminology
Case study
See Life History
Classical Experimental Design
A research design that has equivalence, an experimental and a control group, and a pre- and post test
Code of Ethics (For Research)
Requirements that researchers behave ethically in conducting research
Confidentiality
The requirement in research that the researcher protect the identity of his or her subjects
Crime Index
A measure of crime (Part I crimes) that results in the calculation of the crime rate.
Crime rate
The number of index crimes divided by the population times 100,000
Dark figure of crime
Unmeasured or undiscovered crime
Ethical conduct in research
Basic behavior that is expected in moral and ethical research
Evidence-based research
Research findings that are based on replicated, experimental research
Experiments
Research that involves variations of the classic experimental design employing equivalence, pre- and posttests, and experimental and control groups.
Index crimes
Part I crimes in the Uniform Crime Reports that are used to construct the violent crime and property crime indexes
Life History
A qualitative, case study method of examining a subject’s life history
Methodological Narcissism
The belief that one’s favorite method is best
Methodology (Methods)
The attempt to gather data that are accurate
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
A survey of the general public to measure claimed crime victimization
National Incident-Based Recoding System (NIBRS)
A system for recording far more detail on crime incidents that is intended to replace the UCR
Objectivity
The idea that researchers should be neutral or unbiased in examining their subject matter
Operationalization
Describing how a concept is being measured
Part I Crimes
The index crimes or crimes that are used in order to calculate the crime rate
Part II Crimes
The nonindex crimes that are not used in the calculation of the crime rate
Participant Observation
A methodology that involves the observation of a group by participating in varying degrees in its activities
Reciprocity
A system of mutual obligation between researcher and subject
Reliability
The consistency or suitability of measurement
Self-reports measures
Self-admission surveys of admitted crime
Simulation
Games that mimic reality
Surveys
Various ways of gathering data that include mail questionnaires, interviews, and telephone and internet surveys
Theory
Plausible explanation of reality
Triangulation
The use of multiple research methods
Unfounded crimes
Crimes that the police decide never took place
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Official police report on crime maintained by the FBI
Unobtrusive Measures
Nonreactive methods of data gathering in which the subjects are unaware that they are being studied
Validity
The accuracy of measurement
Variable
Concept that varies or that can take on different numerical values
Victim Surveys
Surveys of the general public to measure the rate and circumstances of victimization
